What it's worth
by another.maggie
Summary: Parker never had a family. Now, starting her own, she struggles with the past she thought she left behind. But tables turn as her parents reappear... K because I'm angsty.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Why am I uploading another story you ask? Well, because I just found it on my PC. I wrote it last summer holiday. It's 20.000 words already and I thought I could just share. :)  
**

**_Prologue_**

William Parker looked at his wife Hannah with worry in his eyes. "I don't know if that's the right thing to do, honey", he said.

The weather outside was nice. The sun was shining through the streets of their neighborhood. Their kids were outside playing. William knew they loved spring much.

"We've been moving only once since Calleigh's birth. I don't think it would bother the kids." Hannah was preparing the vegetables for dinner. Today was Saturday so they would make a pizza together. It was their son's favorite food. On Sundays they ate chocolate ice cream, because it was their daughter's favorite. She always acted like a hyperactive chipmunk after eating chocolate.

"But why should we move anyways", William asked thinking about the life they had lived here. "We live with different names, we do different jobs and we have a family member more than the Jacksons they are looking for have. We're Will, Hannah, Calleigh and Nicholas Parker. They're looking for Lloyd, Sarah and Allison Jackson. So why should they find us?"

"I don't know... it's just… you know I don't think they'll stop looking because they couldn't find us in the first place. They were so close the last time." She gasped as she remembered. Their daughter was almost killed by these monsters. That's why she wasn't happy about having a second child at first.

"Shh, Sarah, it's okay. We're safe. They won't find us and no one's gonna hurt neither Calleigh nor Nick. No one can touch us, you hear me." He hugged her and held her in his arms, while she was sobbing. Outside their daughter taught her little brother how to ride the bike he got for his fifth birthday a week ago.

Sarah or Hannah, however you want to call her, got out of the hug.

"Just once more, please. I don't think we're safe here anymore."

Right in this moment they heard a big crash. Someone was screaming. "CALLEIGH!"

"Oh my gosh", Hannah gasped, "The kids!"

They ran outside as fast as they could. William saw his daughter first. She was laying next her bike. Her eyes were closed and blood ran out of her mouth. Calleigh's right arm was turned into a strange position and her head seemed to be critically injured. He couldn't stop his sobs.

"Nicholas! NICHOLAS! NICK!" His wife's voice got William back to focus. He turned around to see his wife kneeling next to their son. He looked not much better than his sister did, but at least his eyes were open. But he didn't reply to his mother's actions. He wasn't moving at all. Not even closing his eyes to make them… Oh god.

In this moment William Parker, formerly Lloyd Jackson, recognized that his son was dead.

"Call an ambulance", his wife cried. But he couldn't react. Everything would be too late with their son. Nicholas would die and William knew it. Just Hannah didn't get it.

She was right. They should have had moved.

Calleigh opened her eyes slightly. She was confused by the machines around her beeping constantly. Her head hurt so badly. She wished she could get back to sleep.

* * *

"Are you awake?" The man asking her stood at the end of her bed and glanced at her with a surprised face. Like if she would have never been awake.

"My head hurts", she said instead of answering the dumb question. By his uniform she could recognize the man as a police man, so she figured talking to him would be okay.

"We'll set you on drugs soon. First you have to answer me some questions", the man said.

"I don't do drugs", Calleigh said, "I'm only a child! Dad says I mustn't take drugs at all."

The man's eyes turned wide as she mentioned her father. What was the deal with him?

"Not these kind of drugs", he told her, "Medicaments are OK with you aren't they?"

"Well, I figure", she answered. Her headache was getting really bad.

"So… Can you recall what your name is?"

She tried very hard, but to her own surprise she couldn't. The man nodded.

"What is the last thing you can remember", he asked.

"Well… I was at the street with my brother and I taught him how to ride a bike…" She thought about what happened next, but she couldn't recall.

"Was he good at it", the man asked.

"Oh yes. You know, he's only five. I learned riding my bike at four, he was a toddler back then, two years old", she told him. The memories came back all of sudden. "Oh my god, we got hit!"

"You were riding bikes and got hit", the officer asked back.

She nodded. "Is everything okay with Nicholas? Can I see him? Where are Mom and Dad?"

The police man sighed and looked to her in a way she didn't like.

"Parker, I'm afraid I've got to tell you some bad news. Your brother died in the crash and your parents died, either. They were on that street, too. Can't you remember them?"

She shook her head tears in her eyes. Her whole family was dead.

"I'm sorry, Parker." He took her hand, but she didn't want to take it and pulled herself back. He nodded and got up. "I'm leaving you for now. You should get some sleep. I'll call you a nurse for the drugs... the meds, Parker", he said.

"Wait a second", she interrupted him almost leaving.

"Yes?"

"P-Parker? Is that my actual name?"

"Yes, that's your name, miss. Parker Allison Williams", the police men said. Then he left.

He left her alone.

* * *

"So? How is she doing? Is she alright", Sarah asked Geoffrey. He had always worked on their case. Done their protection and stuff; he said he was very sorry for what had happened yesterday.

"She's going to make it… Just, are you sure about your decision? There's no turning back."

Sarah sighed. They had a long talk about this all the three days Calleigh had been in a coma and the two she wasn't in coma anymore, but not still unconscious. Sarah didn't like their decision so much, but after her son's cruel death and her daughter's almost death she couldn't keep living like that. She couldn't do it with the child.

"It's better for her If we leave", Lloyd said. "We don't want her to die."

"You won't see her again. If you'll see her, she probably won't recognize you anyways. She lost most of her memories. She knows Nicholas's name, that's all. I don't know what I should have told her if she had had a better memory. She couldn't recall me", Geoffrey meant.

"We know that, Jeff", Sarah interrupted angrily. "Don't you think it's bothering us? Nick is dead. We don't want to see her die right after him!" They would move again. To Oregon, maybe. They didn't know yet.

Geoffrey nodded. "I'll tell you where she is. But you can't come get her."

"We just want her to be safe", Lloyd mumbled painfully. He didn't want to let go of his daughter, especially not now. She was seven years old and had just started her first school holiday. She had good marks everywhere. The teachers loved Calleigh Parker.

Lloyd loved his daughter since ever he knew she would get into his life. He bought her so much stuff during the pregnancy Sarah was almost annoyed by it. He taught Calleigh everything she needed to know; How to walk, how to talk, how to read a book and how to choose the right book out of three.

He bit his tongue. It was hard for him to leave her.

Lloyd grabbed Sarah's hand in rush. "C'mon, let's go!"

They knew they wouldn't see their daughter face to face for a long time if not even forever.

* * *

_20 years later…_

Parker was very nervous about how the test would turn out. She didn't know what one or two stripes meant, because she hadn't read the paper among with the test. She never did. Packing out the test she handed it to Alec telling him that she wouldn't read it. They were at his apartment, because in his opinion her flat was creepy. She didn't get him at this point, but she didn't want to think about it in the first place. The test result was all that mattered.

After she had waited for some time she went to Alec. "It doesn't work."

"Well… it says you have to wait three minutes for the results."

"It's been about five minutes since I opened the box now", Parker said, "I think it's damaged."

"Did you actually pee on it", he asked.

"Do what?"

"Oh, Parker! Are you kidding me? This is a _pregnancy test_. You have to pee on this stripe here to find out if you're pregnant or not", Alec said laughing. She was simply too cute!

"That's disgusting", Parker said, "Can't I do something else, like take a bite?"

Laughing he shook his head. "No, you have to pee on it."

She chuckled. "Okay, so I'll do this. But you don't wait for me. I don't want you to… whatever." Parker ran over to the bathroom quickly. She was excited for the results though she had to do something stupid like peeing on it right now.

Three minutes later, she had watched the clock, Parker returned to the living room. She didn't take a look at the result. "So", she asked.

Alec looked at it, looked back at the paper and then smiled. He got off the couch and hugged her. "We're having a baby, Mama", he whispered close to her ear.

"Wow."

He had never heard her saying something like 'Wow'. She hugged him back and he kissed her forehead. "We're gonna be a family", he said smiling.

Suddenly Parker turned her eyes to the ground and didn't seem to be so happy anymore. "I don't know if we can be something like that, Hardison. I don't even have parents."

"Does this change anything about the two… the three of us?"

"Well… I don't know. Does it?"

"No, of course not, Parker", he said, "Look, we're having a baby. You don't need parents for having a baby. You need a man and a woman, who love each other."

"What's about one night stands", Parker asked.

"Or someone who's having one night stands", Alec added, "But that's not what we're like."

"No, that's not what we are like", Parker smiled slightly and went over to the couch. She sat down between his legs and cuddled herself into him. After a long time just leaning in this position thinking about the things that would happen, she asked: "What is it like to be in a family?"

"It's the best thing ever", Alec said, "You're never alone. You're always surrounded by someone else and if you're not feeling good someone will help you. It's like the team."

"I like the team", Parker whispered into his chest. "When will we tell them?"

"For what it's worth we might do it today", Alec responded.

"Oh no, not now", Parker argued, "We're on a case. They'll take me of my position."

"Don't you think it's better like that, Mama?"

"That's boring, Hardison! Please, just let me finish this one and after we'll tell them, okay?"

He thought about it and then agreed. "But for that you'll have to do me a favor", he said smiling.

"What kind of favor?"

"You're coming to my brother's birthday party next weekend. We'll stay the whole weekend. The day after Tom's birthday we will tell them about the baby", Alec planned.

Parker didn't have to think about it even though she only met Alec's Nana once and that didn't work out too well.

She accidently stole something from Hardison's foster father as a child and even though the old woman didn't recall her she hated blondes with blue eyes ever since. It had been a gift from Nana to her hubby. Parker looked for it all summer and finally found it at the end of August. Hardison said he would give it back to her so that his Nana wouldn't think of Parker as the regretting thief she actually was. It worked out. Hardison's Nana was very happy about getting it back, but Parker didn't know if this had changed anything about her sight of Parker.

"Okay. But don't leave me alone in a room with her."

"She likes you, Mama."

"Oh no, she doesn't. And you know she doesn't", Parker finished their talk. Then she cuddled back up into him again dreaming about what it would be to have a family. She thought of taking their child to all the great buildings she jumped off. She was sure the kid would love this.


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you so much, Mr. Ford", Dave Taylor said with tears in his eyes, "You saved my life."

"That's what we do, Dave", Nate responded smiling. They actually saved Dave's life sending the killers to Barcelona and proving the truth about Reeseboon-Spoons. In the next time no one would buy spoons from this company no more.

"Thank you", Dave repeated, "Thank you all so much!" With a smile on his face he went over to the bar and took his daughter's chubby little hand. Then he left to start a new life with his girl.

Parker had to smile watching the scene. Would it look the same when she and Hardison interacted with their child? In the next moment she felt a little sad about it. Two days earlier she discovered that she was pregnant. She'd asked Hardison to keep it a secret until their case was finished. Now it was done. They were done. But Parker's mind had changed. She wished they would wait until it wasn't invisible anymore. She didn't want to hang out in Nate's apartment all day, it just didn't appeal to her.

Unfortunately Alec had already grabbed her hand for their big announcement. Of course, the team knew they were in a relationship, so in the first place no one was thinking about this gesture of Alec's. Maybe it wasn't too late already? Maybe she could ask him to let her work for two more months?

"So guys, we've gotta tell you something", Alec said smiling. Parker crunched her teeth, but it was very smooth so no one noticed it at all. It was officially too late for another interaction. It bothered her.

Sophie was wondering what it could be. Parker looked a little bit confused, but maybe it was just Sophie noticing that. Obviously it had to be something that was not easy for Parker to announce. Maybe they were getting married or something like that.

"What is it, Hardison? Are you two getting off to Vegas or something", Elliot asked jokingly. He was talking about a wedding. He didn't have a clue.

"No, actually we're…"

"We're moving in together", Parker interrupted with her brilliant idea. Alec looked at her with confusion. For him it was obvious that _she_ would move in with _him_. They we're having a baby, for Christ's sake. And a baby clearly couldn't be raised at the creepy warehouse she considered her home. No, really... But why was she telling the others?

"Nice! So we won't have to stop at every of the six addresses you left us when we're looking for you", Nate commented. This gave Parker the chance to make sure Alec wouldn't say anything else. Or at least, she thought.

"It's not that bad to have several addresses, Nate", Parker defended herself to keep the talk going, "Actually it's very safe. If someone breaks in here he'll have to stop at all of my addresses… well at least he would have had to." She shrugged her shoulders, smiling.

"Mh, you sure this was everything you were going to tell us", Sophie asked. She'd noticed the young hacker's confused look and she'd thought about it. There was something Parker didn't want him to tell. Sophie totally wanted to know _what_ it was.

Why did they plan on telling? And why did Parker change her mind? The grifter was quite the curious one.

Parker was slow off the mark, because she was talking to Nate, trying to chage the issue. But Alec said: "Yes, actually." Parker bit her tongue again. Didn't he get her signs? Well, frankly, it was quite possible that he didn't want to get them. However he was going to tell them now.

Parker sat down on the chair, because she didn't want to be hugged or something. She was a little dizzy either and she didn't know how long she would stand. She was in the need of chocolate.

"Yes? What is it", Elliot asked. He still didn't get it, while Sophie was already thinking about it. Parker had been a little paler than usually since that case. Sometimes she just leaned herself up against a wall or something. She didn't do that, because it was comforting her. Sophie was pretty sure that Parker had had some long mornings with her face over the toilette lately.

"You're pregnant", she guessed without thinking what it would be like for Parker to tell her that it was obvious. Of course the thief was trying to hide it as best as she could. Pregnancy would mean for her to stay at the house, never get out. No fun in Parker language.

Remember the time she'd torn her TCL? This had driven her crazy already. Staying locked for nine months...

Parker looked down at the table. Was it _so_ obvious? She felt like throwing up or crying or anything, but not being her. Before Alec could say a word she got up.

"Excuse me", she said. Then she ran off the bar. She didn't want to see them. Further she didn't want them to see her. Her life as a free spirit was finally over, she felt it. No one would let her do anything without thinking what it would mean for the baby.

_You could be shot, Parker, better don't do it. No, Parker, this is dangerous, you could fall off the house. A pregnant woman shouldn't jump elevators neither trains, Parker. Maybe you should stay at home safe, Parker. Why don't you take a rest and let us do it, Parker?_

Oh, this was so not fair!

Parker had no money on her and even if she didn't feel like stealing anything right now she went into the supermarket and stole five bars of chocolate. She knew she couldn't go home or to Alec's place, because they would be looking for her. Maybe they would think of her as a suicidal.

Did she care? Not really... Well. A lot, actually.

Parker went to the park and to the bridge. There were some little ducklings swimming. Parker felt like feeding them. She took out one of the chocolate bars and opened it. She broke off some pieces and threw them down. She didn't know if it was healthy for ducks to be fed with chocolate, but at this very moment she couldn't care less. Chocolate was her favorite food ever, the ducks just had to like it, if not even love it.

Parker watched the ducks eating the chocolate silently while eating some pieces of the mocca edition herself. She didn't know if it was okay with the baby. She thought about it for about one minute, but then she decided that if there wasn't a warning it couldn't be wrong.

A woman stopped by. "Are you alright, Miss", she asked.

Parker turned around to look at her. The woman had hazel eyes and brown turning grey hair. She was very pale and had some freckles, which looked cute on her. The woman was very well and casually dressed. She was probably in her fifty's, but she looked no day older than 45. Parker wasn't so sure about this she had never been good at guessing someone's age. This woman could be her mother judged by age. She sniffed.

"I don't know anymore", Parker admitted.

"May I sit down next to you", the woman asked smoothly.

"It's the state's Park. You may sit yourself down everywhere around here", Parker said and broke off another piece of chocolate. The woman smiled and sat down. She had bread and broke pieces off to feed the ducks. Parker watched her not saying a word. She liked pretending her mother would have done something like feeding ducks with her. Unfortunately she couldn't even remember her mother's name. She had died in a car crush with her brother, Nicholas. She remembered teaching Nicholas how to ride the bike. Next thing she knew was waking up in hospital being told her whole family died. She couldn't even recall her parent's faces.

"Why are you here", the woman asked after a long time of just listening to Parker eating chocolate and feeding the ducks.

"I ran off from my friends", Parker said surprised by herself, because she didn't like telling strangers her life at all, "And my boyfriend."

The woman nodded and fed the ducks. It was Parker's turn to keep the conversation going.

"Do you have a family?"

"I do", the woman answered, "I do have a family."

"Will you tell me something about your family", Parker asked not knowing if it was allowed to ask such things. She just wanted to know what it was like. She had Archie, of course. But he was not a family. He was her Dad if you might call him so.

"My husband Larry works at the train station he's a driver. We've got a son, Theodore, and a daughter, Marie. Theo is 31 now. He got married twice and divorced once. He has three sons, Benjamin, Reese and Collin, 5, 4 and 1 year old. They are the cutest boys ever", the woman said smiling, "Theo is a lawyer and his wife Amber is a judge. His formerly wife Larissa is a dancer and Benjamin and Reese's Mom. They live with her. Marie is a teacher at Elementary school. She has a daughter with her fiancé Sam, a doctor. Holly, that's her name, half a year old, such a cutie; I love having grandchildren. They make you feel young. As If you were experiencing parenthood once again..." She sighed. "And you, do you have family?"

Parker shook her head. "My family died when I was seven. I've been raised by several foster parents, but I ran away", she told the woman. She doesn't feel so strange anymore for Parker. She almost felt like telling the woman everything.

"I'm sorry", the woman said.

"Oh, you don't have to. I found another father. He was very nice and trained me in everything I know right now", Parker said thinking about how to find a legal synonym for a professional thief. "He was an acrobatic artist, you know. I'm climbing on stuff and something for work."

"That seems nice", the woman meant, "You must be very talented."

"Archie always told me that", Parker responded with a half-smile. She liked thinking about the old days Archie trained her. How easy her life was back then!

"And what's the thing with the friends you ran away from?"

The woman was a good listener. She knew how to bring someone to tell her everything. She was almost as gifted as Sophie. She was like a grifter.

"I'm pregnant", Parker sighed, "My only friends are also the people I'm working with. They won't let me do anything dangerous by now. That sucks!" She throw a piece of chocolate towards the ducks.

The woman nodded slightly. "Are you happy about it?"

"Being pregnant? Ugh…" Parker took a deep breath in and let it back out. "I don't know anymore. I was about two days ago. Alec told me we had to tell them and I begged him to wait until this job was over, but today… I didn't feel like taking a rest by now. I don't want to spend all day at the house while the others are having fun. It's not what I do. It's not what I was taught to do."

The woman placed one hand on Parker's shoulder softly. "Sometimes we have to things we don't want to do to discover how nice they are."

Parker started sobbing. "B-But that is not m-my work! It's Alec's! I'm not a c-computer genius and I'll never be… I-I don't want to visit his family either. His m-mother hates me she thinks I-I've stolen something from her husband and she looks at me w-with that look! It's scary!" She let herself drive into a hug with the woman she didn't really know.

"Want to hear a story about my son's second wife", the woman asked. Parker didn't answer, but the woman talked anyway. "I loved Larissa very much so I was angry at my son getting divorced after they had two kids together already. So, as he introduced Amber being one year divorced form Larissa I was very angry. I looked at her with a killer look, believe me! I was so mean to her. She must have been very frightened. We couldn't get along for a very long time."

"When did it stop", Parker asked still sobbing.

"Larissa called me about it, because Theo asked her to do it. She told me that the divorce was okay with her and that she still liked our family and that we would still be a part of her and the boy's life. She said I shouldn't be mean to Amber, because I was angry at Theo and Larissa being divorced. Amber would be nice. So I tried to handle the thing another way and we could get along even very well. Amber was so nice. She didn't ever say anything about how I treated her at the beginning", the woman told Parker. "Wait sometime and you'll get along with your boyfriend's mother. She'll love you. And if she won't than you don't have to care. Stop visiting her recently and she will see what she has lost."

Parker giggled catching a tear in her eye. "Maybe I should try", she said.

"See. And now go home to your friends, Miss. I bet they've been looking at the whole town for you."

"You don't know how true you are", Parker responded smiling. "Here, this is for you." She handed her one of the chocolate bars. "Thank you for everything. Good luck with your family."

"Same I wish for you", the woman said and then Parker left.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank y'all for your support. I'll keep uploading until I run out of chapters! Have a nice day!**

**Reviews make me happy, so don't be shy :)**

"She's not at hers", Sophie said as they met again at Nate's.

"And she isn't at mine, neither", Alec added. He seemed to be very worried.

"_And_ she isn't here", Elliot mumbled.

"Okay, guys, so she isn't at the places where she'd usually go", Nate said in his mastermind voice to reassure them all. "Where would Parker go if not to her home or to Hardison's place or mine?"

"To our places", Sophie asked looking at Elliot.

"Nah, I've got an alarm system, which would have knocked her out and sent me a message on my cellphone", Elliot disagreed.

"Excuse me? _Knocked her out_?"

Elliot shrugged his shoulders as for an answer. "I don't like it when she's coming up for anything while I'm under the shower, okay? It sucks."

"But - knock her out? Are you crazy? She could…"

"So she isn't at Elliot's place neither. Next stop: Sophie's", Nate interrupted before the fight got larger.

They all nodded by mutual agreement. They didn't have to put on a coat or something, because they had all been out looking for Parker until this very moment.

"Parker", Sophie cried in surprise as she opened the door. The thief was sitting at the stairs to Nate's apartment eating chocolate-mousse-chocolate. She seemed to be quiet calm, but you could tell she had been crying, sobbing at least.

Everyone exited Nate's apartment to walk over to Parker. She didn't say anything. All she was doing was eating her chocolate.

"Are you alright, Mama?"

"Where have you been?"

"Dammit Parker, you can't scare us like that!"

"Please never do this again!"

Parker sat still and listened to their reactions to her return. They didn't seem quite happy at all. She felt that she was in need of her bunny right now and got up.

"Sorry for bothering you", she said and you could hear she was disappointed by her friend's reactions, "I didn't mean to waste your time."

She started climbing down the stairs.

"What? Is that everything you wanna tell us", Elliot wanted to know, "We've been looking for you for hours, Parker!"

"Yeah… actually, this is everything I wanna tell you", Parker meant not turning back to them. She hoped no one would follow her. She wanted to be alone with bunny and the two chocolate bars left over. She didn't want to see Alec. He should have known it was bothering her. He should have asked.

"Please, Parker", Sophie shouted after her down the hallway, "We just want to know what's going on with you."

"Hardison has told you already", Parker recounted them bitterly while pushing the entrance open, "Now leave me alone, please."

The door closed right after her.

"We can't leave her alone", Sophie said worried, "She's outta mind."

"But she doesn't want to see us. She said so", Alec mumbled.

"And if she said:_ Jump out of the window_- would you do that too?" Sophie was a little angry about Hardison and how everyone seemed to let go of Parker while the girl was so confused by everything turning tables in her life. "She's only a child at heart! She doesn't know how to deal with the stuff happening right now and you just want to pretend she's able to deal with it herself! Someone _has_ got to help her!"

"She doesn't want to see us; you've heard her, Sophie", Elliot repeated what Parker said. They were still at the stairs and no one tried to get back into the apartment.

"I shouldn't have told you about the pregnancy. She said she was okay with it, but she wasn't. I should have known she's not ready", Alec told them. He was feeling very bad for what had happened at the bar sooner and the stuff at the stairs now. He wasn't sure if she would forgive him anytime soon.

"You're all idiots", Sophie cried before she ran down the stairs to follow Parker.

Parker was sitting on her bed watching a Disney movie on the laptop Alec gave her for Christmas and eating chocolate. Her bunny was right beside her. She thought of calling Archie. He was the only person she recently talked to except the team. Then she thought about calling Peggy. But Peggy only knew her as Alice, and Alice wasn't engaged at all. Alice couldn't be pregnant and Alice _had_ an intact family.

Oh, wait a minute! How would she explain being pregnant when Peggy wanted to meet her?

"This is getting so complicated", Parker moaned. The door opened.

"Parker?" It was Sophie.

"I told you to leave me alone", Parker said angrily. She pressed her bunny hard to her chest and chewed on one chocolate piece. She would throw up anyway. She could eat as much chocolate as she wanted to. Lucky. Or was she?

"I know, Parker, I just… I couldn't leave you alone."

"I won't commit suicide, okay? Everything will be fine. Bye, bye!"

Sophie didn't leave of course. Parker rolled over and stared at the laptop as if she didn't recognize Sophie. She turned the volume up so she couldn't really hear a word of Sophie's. Instead of that she listened to Hercules' becoming a hero song. As she turned back around to fetch herself a new bar of chocolate Sophie was sitting next to her.

"You almost scared me to death!" Parker blinked her eyes. She thought Sophie would have left like she told her to. Usually no one would stay longer at Parker's 'flat' if he was asked to leave.

"I'm sorry, Parker." Sophie leaned over and paused the movie. "It's just that… You have to talk to someone about what you're feeling."

"I already did. There was a woman at the park. She has two kids and four grandchildren. I talked to her", Parker said. Sophie didn't believe that, of course. Parker didn't open up to anyone from the team except Alec and Sophie, but only from time to time, so it was impossible for her to speak to a stranger in that way.

"But she can't help you like we can, Parker. She's not the one you're sharing your life with."

"I'm not talking to Alec. I don't want to. Not now", Parker disagreed.

"Oh, you can talk to me, or Elliot, or Nate. Whoever you like", Sophie proposed, "I can wait around and sit here until you like to... well, talk, okay?"

"Sophie, I don't want to talk. I really don't want to." Parker set the movie on playing again. Sophie preserved through the whole movie. She sat next to Parker until it was over. It was already very late.

"I'm not going to talk to you, Sophie", Parker said. She grabbed another DVD and put it into the laptop.

"You can still do your thing, Parker. We will let you do it as long as possible", Sophie said not beating around the bush.

"You _say_ so. Doesn't mean you _mean_ it", Parker emphazised.

"I don't think anyone will stop you", Sophie went on, "Look, we're all adults here. We all handle our own stuff and if you want to jump off a 220 feet high building being nine months pregnant... Most likely we won't encourage you, but we won't stop you neither, Parker."

"You promise", Parker asked.

"Well, I don't promote it, as I said, but I won't keep you from doing everyhting you like. I think your body will tell you when it's too much... But please don't make me watch, okay? I don't want to see you doing these stunts", Sophie commented rolling her eyes.

"Alec won't let me", Parker said chewing her nails.

"You will have to talk to him about it", Sophie said, "That's true, but he'll understand your point."

"Okay." Parker nodded after short time of consideration. "I will talk to him tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay. I like you way better that way", Sophie said smiling. She got up. "It's late I think I can catch the last bus if I hurry."

"Uhm, Sophie...", Parker touched her at the arm.

"Yes, my dear?"

"Could you stay... please? I don't like being alone that much… not anymore."

"Of course, Parker. I'm just texting a message to Nate that we won't talk about the next case this evening, okay?"

Whatever this was a code for, the little thief didn't care.

Parker nodded and started watching the movie. It was Cinderella.

Instead of texting Nate outside the container Sophie phoned Hardison to tell him everything was going to be alright with Parker.

"Sophie? What's up?"

"I'm at Parker's", Sophie said. Parker wouldn't hear her from inside. "She's fine. I'll stay at her place tonight. She said she's going to talk to you tomorrow."

"Thank you so much", Alec answered after a sigh of relief, "How did you manage it?"

"Women's talk", Sophie lied. A guy could have told Parker the same.

But Sophie, obviously, wasn't a guy.


	4. Chapter 4

"Do I look good", Parker asked Alec, as the weekend they planned on telling his family arrived. She usually wore Alice White's clothes for Alec's family, because she herself was weird enough. And she hoped Alec's Nana would like her a little more looking like a cute person.

"You've asked me that twice since we left the house, Mama, and my answer still is a yes", he said kissing her.

"Watch the street, Alec", Parker judged him, "At least while you're driving this car."

"Don't worry. They'll all love you. Even those who already know you", Alec said.

Parker already knew his Mom, his Dad and his big sister Dana. Dana was a brunette blue eyed model, single and recently judged Parker for her bad taste. But Parker didn't care about this so much. She thought boots were very well matched with a dress.

"Who is left for me not to know", she asked. They didn't talk about his family that much, because Alec knew it was making her sad thinking about the slowly passing memories of her own family.

"There are Tom and his wife Andy. They have two kids, Connor and Twyla", he begun, "Andy will love you, Mama."

"Why", Parker asked.

"Mom hates Andy even much more than you", Alec said smiling even if it wasn't funny, "But Andy is absolutely cool with it. She's always acting cold and stuff, but she never really hurts Mom. And then we've got Jonah and his fiancée Ashleigh. She's not as cool as Andy, so Mom likes her quiet much. Jonah is a little like a nerd, but not like me. He develops computer games. Ashleigh is an art student, very arrogant. I don't know if she'll like you. She doesn't like me. And the twins, they're only 25." He said this as if he wasn't three but 10 years older than them. "Basil and Clover, they're so fun. They'll love you. Clover works as a circus artist. You could show her how to run up walls, she'd love that. Basil has a girlfriend, Nora, but Clover is single. I think that's all."

Parker gave him a half-smile. "As long as I don't have to listen to Dana telling me about how to dress", she said. He took her hand and squeezed it.

"Everything is going to be alright, you will see", he told her.

They arrived three hours later. Parker was tired from getting up at 6 o'clock in the morning. All she wanted to do right now was getting back into bed. She had bunny with her and some chocolate, too. Without bunny and chocolate she wouldn't survive this weekend.

As they escaped the car Alec hugged her once more. "You ready, Mama?"

"Will I ever be", she answered.

The door swung open while they got their backpacks out of the car. Parker looked like a grown up child with her bunny looking out of the backpack and the white dress she was wearing. Her bunny couldn't be all in the backpack because he wouldn't be able to breath then.

"Hey, Alec", the red haired woman getting out of the house cried walking towards them. "You're earlier than Jonah, Dana _and _Base… He's such a jerk. I called him and he got up now." She rolled her eyes. Parker run through all the names and considered that this had to be Clover.

"Hey, Lucky", Alec said hugging his formerly foster sister, "How are you doing?"

"Oh, quiet well, I guess. The circus is damn cool", she said smiling. Then she turned to face Parker, who was busy getting bunny out of the backpack. "You've gotta be Parker! Nice to meet you! I'm Clover!"  
Parker grabbed the hand Clover was lending her and shook it maybe way to hard. "Nice to meet you, Clover", she said. She had trained meeting people with Sophie, but she didn't feel very safe now.

Clover smiled. "You're cute", she said looking at the bunny.

"Clover!"

"What? I'm just saying", Clover rolled her eyes, "I didn't mean to bother you, Parker. It's just having a bunny at your age…"

"My dad gave it to me for birthday", Parker explained defending her plushy, which she was hugging very close, "It was the last thing I got for birthday ever!"

"Your dad is strange giving you a bunny for… Oh." Clover recognized what Parker had just told her. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You couldn't know, Clover", Alec said. He took Parker by the shoulders and led her to the house. "I'm a little lazy. Do we have time to lay ourselves down before the big party starts?"

Clover nodded. "I think so, but you have to meet Tom and Andy first. Nana is at the market right now and Dad is in the park with the kids", she insisted.

"Thank god", Parker sighed without thinking. Clover laughed.

"Nana doesn't like you? You so have to meet Andy", she said. Alec was happy about his sister's reaction. He really wanted Parker to get along with a part of his family at least.

Clover pulled the two into the house.

"Tom! Andy! Alec is here", she shouted.

A brunette woman came out of the kitchen. She was dressed as if she was working in the kitchen and her eyes were of a deep blue. She was smiling.

"Alec. How are you doing?"

"Well." Alec smiled. "And how's your stuff running?"

"Nothing I could be angry about", Andy said. "Connor is in preschool and Twyla is in kindergarten half the day. I've got much more time for new recipes and stuff." Andy's eyes turned over to Parker, who was still hugging her bunny. "So this is Parker, huh?"

Parker was kind of annoyed by being treated like a little child, but she tried a smile.

"I'm Andy, Alec's sister in law." She shook Parker's hand, the one that was not holding bunny. "Tom never told me how pretty you are."

"Thank you", Parker said, "But we didn't meet yet. I've only met Dana out of Alec's siblings."

Andy bit her lip. "She didn't like your clothing I guess", she laughed, "Don't worry. We're all a little freaky around here. It's just what Dana likes to do. Your dress is lovely."

Parker wanted to say "Thank you" again as she was interrupted by another voice. It was male.

"Alec! Come and give your old man a hug!" Parker turned around and saw a man in his mid-thirty's with blonde hair and light eyes hugging Alec.

"Happy birthday, Tom", Alec managed to say. "Parker's got our present."

"Oh, yes!" Parker started to search for it in her backpack; she found it very quickly and handed it to Tom, who smiled. "Happy birthday!"

"Thank you, guys." Parker was happy that Tom didn't want to analyze her like Clover or Andy. He just took the present shook her hand and returned to wherever he came from.

"We're heading upstairs. We've had a long ride. I wanna lay me down", Alec told Clover and Andy.

"Of course", Andy said. "If you're awake you can come down if you like", she added referring to Parker. Parker nodded and said "Thank you" one last time, before she was going upstairs with Alec.

She already knew his room so she didn't look at every single piece or kept searching for any secret place she could find. She already knew all his secret places even in his childhood chamber.

In fact Parker was feeling dizzy again and would have loved to take a rest. She had bunny in her arms, but she didn't want a chocolate bar right now. She wanted some sleep.

Alec placed himself next to her so that Parker could place her head on his chest. Feeling his breath always made her calm down and relax. He folded his hands behind his head and waited for Parker to fall asleep, but she couldn't. She was feeling very sick.

"Would you mind if I threw up on you?"

"Of course not. But if you're feeling like that we should probably consider going to the bathroom", Alec said smoothing her hair.

"Nah..." Parker's eyes were closed. Alec could see that she was almost asleep. It was very silent outside. That's what he loved about this little village. After finding out they were having a baby he thought about asking Parker to move out of town for short. Clover was outside doing some stunts. When she would hear about Parker's job – they had told Alec's parents that she was a stuntwoman – Clover would completely freak out. He knew that.

_"Give me your bunny."_

_"No!"_

_"Give me your bunny, Parker. I'm not gonna ask you that again!"_

_"It's mine! My dad gave it to me", Parker insisted._

_"Who's your dad? I can't remember giving it to you. It's mine, Parker. You're mine. Everything that used to be yours is mine now. You got that", he asked. He was drunk again. She could smell it. Her foster father punched his wife in the face moments ago. He didn't beat up Parker usually, because it was too dangerous. Parker was not broken enough. She was only 3 years in foster care system. She'd probably tell someone._

_Parker didn't answer the question._

_"Give me the bunny!"_

_He took it out of her arms. Parker didn't say a word. Her dad gave her this bunny for her last birthday. It was hers. She knew that._

_"Good girl, Parker. Now go to your room and stay there."_

_He would beat up Nancy again. He did it all day when he was drunk and he was always drunk since Parker was brought here three months ago. The bunny was the only thing left of her old life except some clothes._

_He couldn't take her bunny. It wasn't allowed. She took it back. She stole it back._

_That night her foster father came down to the cellar. "Okay, girl, where is my bunny?"_

_"I don't know what you're talking about", Parker lied. She had hidden her bunny in the garden. He wouldn't find it ever._

_"Of course you do, nasty", he said, "Give it back and nothing will happen!"_

_"I don't know what you're talking about", she repeated, "You stole it from me this afternoon."_

_He run over and started beating her up. "You're not grassing on me, you little bitch!" She could feel his feet kicking into her tummy where the wounds of the accident were. It hurt so much. She thought about the accident and everything that had happened. She started crying._

"Is everything alright, Parker", Alec wanted to know, as she was waking up sobbing.

She touched his arms to check if he was real. "Thank god, it was just a dream!" She blinked her eyes. "It was so real… god. I almost thought I was at Nancy and Drake's again."

Alec pulled her into a close hug. "You'll never go back there, Mama, no one's gonna hurt you."

She cleared her eyes and then said: "Thank you for everything, but now I think I should really go to the bathroom."

"I'm coming with you", Alec said getting up. Sometimes she even liked it when he guarded her.

"Okay."

She wasn't throwing up that bad. It still felt like going through hell, heaven and back again. After five minutes she was done. Her hair was clean, because Alec had held it away from her face. She cleaned her mouth with water and gracefully took the peppermint chewing gum Alec gave to her.

"Thanks", she said, "Is the smell gone?"

He checked her breath and nodded. "Are you ready to go downstairs, Mama?"

"I'll never be, let's go", she answered shrugging.

**A/N: I didn't really check this one and my english wasn't the best at the time I wrote it. So: I'm sorry for every single mistake. Please tell me if there's something you'd like me to change in R&R :)**


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